Daniel S. Jacobson

1926 - 2019

Daniel S. Jacobson

HENDERSONVILLE - Danny J, Mr. J, Boss, Dr. J: God we loved this man.

He was born in Philadelphia on October 25, 1926 to Albert and Sadie Naftel Jacobson, and grew up in Baltimore, MD. He enlisted in the Army at 17 and served in Occupied Japan in General McArthur's Tokyo offices. He returned from service and earned his B.S. in Marketing from Baltimore City College on the GI Bill. He met Fredrica Reiter on a blind date Thanksgiving Eve 1952, and they married the following March. Their family was complete with daughter Jamie Susan and son David Scott Jacobson.

Danny was the consummate media salesman. From Baltimore newspapers, radio and television stations, he went on to manage AM radio stations in Pine Bluff, AR and Midland, TX, before buying his own AM Top 40 station WOOW in Greenville, NC in 1965. He loved to work, and he loved his disk jockeys. Even during recessions he'd jump up in the morning, raring to go sell time. And he was good at it. Freddy worked alongside him; many a DJ could do imitations of conversations between Mr. and Mrs. J. He and Freddy were delighted to be feted in 2011 at a BIG WOOW Reunion with many of the former DJs.

The couple moved to Linville, NC, in 1988. Danny began teaching as an adjunct professor in communications at Appalachian State University. He loved teaching young people and did so at ASU until he was 80. Danny enjoyed sports, and dancing and playing great bridge with Freddy, but his passion was tennis. He was a happy guy, but ever more so when on the tennis court. He played until he was 90. His much younger tennis partners would say, "I want to be like Danny when I grow up!"

He died peacefully in his sleep at home in Hendersonville, NC on December 28, 2019. His wife Freddy, daughter Jamie and her husband Charlie Adams, son David and granddaughters Sarah and Naomi, and an extended family of in-laws, nieces and nephews survive. They adored him. Everyone will remember him with a smile.

As published in The Daily Reflector